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Wish comes true for young sisters

26 June 2012

As you may have read in a recent story from
Bike Wise, MWH successfully won first place in the 500+ category of the 2012
Bike Wise Challenge. One hundred and
sixty-five participants from MWH branches nationwide cycled 18,641 kilometres
in 1,437 rides during February. They
calculated this was the equivalent of cycling from Cape Reinga to the Bluff
nine times! Combined, they burnt 335,538
calories and saved 4,492 kilograms of CO2 from being emitted into
the atmosphere.

MWH have a global purpose –‘building a
better world’ – and this was the motivation behind donating their prize to a
more worthy cause. Bike Wise had planned
to give MWH a $250 supermarket voucher to use toward a morning tea shout. However, coordinator Kasey Halford suggested
to her team that they ask Bike Wise for an Avanti voucher to the same value so
they could donate it to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation was then able to
buy new bikes for two young sisters – Starr (5) and Rangimaria (6). The girls, along with their older sister Huia,
suffer from Marfan syndrome, which is caused by a genetic defect that affects
the eyes, skin, and skeletal and cardiovascular systems. The syndrome means the girls grow much faster
than is usual, which puts stress on organs such as the heart. In time, their arms, legs, and fingers will
be disproportionately long. The
hereditary disorder has claimed the lives of their grandfather and their
mother, Isabelle, who was only 30 years old.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation has never before
been able to help a single family where three siblings have a progressive
terminal illness. With help from the
local Z Energy, and the Avanti voucher from MWH, the sisters spent the day
being treated like princesses. Huia was given
a day of pampering and shopping in a limo, while the younger girls were thrown
a fairy princess party where they received their new bikes.

Ms Halford was able to attend the party to
present the bikes on behalf of MWH, and said it was an incredibly moving
experience. “It was an amazing reward
for all those hours we spend pedalling during Bike Wise month. I’m sure that next year our people will be
even more motivated to compete, knowing that their efforts could make such a
different to young lives”.

MWH strongly support cycling and have
recently won the CAN 2011 Best Cycle Facility Project award for the shared
walking and cycle paths that have been developed around the Fox and Franz Josef
Glaciers.

Thank you to the MWH Bike Wise Challenge team
for your efforts and generosity, and for providing us with this heart-warming
story.